[imagesource: Bernardo del Cristo Hernandez Sierra]

In the West, people tend to see art as being created from nothing, beginning with a blank canvas that starts to become a masterpiece.

But there is a different way of looking at this, according to Eastern philosophies:

Art already exists, and the job of artists is simply to reveal it.

In that sense, art mirrors life, and only some have the eye to catch the beauty of a moment.

Photographers are artists, framing and composing a snippet of life and movement into a single image, with the best ones being those that make you think and imagine all the possibilities.

With my art waffle over, let’s delve into the national winners of one of the largest annual photography competitions on Earth – the Sony World Photography Awards.

This year, there were 340 000 submissions from 61 countries and 211 territories, with over 170 000 photos submitted to the Open competition.

From those submissions, the National Awards winners were selected:

“From sumo wrestlers to city surfers, the winning images in the 2022 National and Regional Awards are a wonderful example of photography’s diversity,” the competition says. “We all see the world differently and the photographers celebrated this year take centre stage for embracing their own unique perspective. Set up 10 years ago, the program has given worldwide exposure and opportunities to more than 550 photographers.

Here are some of the more striking moments from the National Winners of the Sony World Photography Awards 2022.

Matjaž Šimic, Slovenia, Winner, National Awards, Natural World & Wildlife:

Chin Leong Teo, Singapore, Winner, National Awards, Motion:

Kaoru Sugiyama, Japan, 1st Place, National Awards, Street Photography:

Mariah Zamora, Philippines, Winner, National Awards, Portraiture:

Raido Nurk, Estonia, Winner, National Awards, Motion:

Dikpal Thapa, Nepal, Winner, National Awards, Lifestyle:

Yawar Abbas, Pakistan, Winner, National Awards, Travel:

Teodor Toma, Romania, Winner, National Awards, Portraiture:

Frank Loddenkemper, Germany, Winner, National Awards, Architecture:

For the other winners from places under, over, and between Slovakia to Serbia, head over here.

The overall winners of the competition will be announced on April 12.

From there, the images will go on display as part of the exhibition at Somerset House in London from April 13 through May 2.

[source:petapixel]